Longford Circuit Court: Pair jailed and one to reappear over violent shooting and hit and run incident

Two men have been jailed for their involvement in a violent hit and run shooting incident which occurred in a Longford housing estate in January 2022, while a third is due to reappear before the courts in November.
Jamie Dinnegan (33), of 18 Grian Ard, Ardnacassa, Longford, Noel Ward (26), of 8 Spring Lawn, Longford, and Michael ‘Jnr’ Ward (35), of 30 Palace Crescent, Longford, appeared before Judge Kenneth Connolly at Longford Circuit Court on Friday, where a lengthy sentence hearing took place.

Mr Dinnegan and Mr Noel Ward pleaded guilty to a charge of affray earlier this year, shortly before a jury trial was due to commence, with Mr Michael Ward pleading guilty to a charge of careless driving causing harm, failure to stop a vehicle in circumstances where the vehicle had caused injury, and failure to keep the vehicle at the scene of the occurrence of an injury.
Detective Sergeant Keelin Brennan told the court that, at 12.30pm on January 24, 2022, Gardaí received reports that there were 20 to 30 members of the Keenan and Stokes families engaged in an altercation in Palace Crescent.

Gardaí called to the scene several times throughout the day in an attempt to diffuse the situation but, at 4.30pm, a number of 999 calls were received, reporting gunshots and suggesting a person was “lying on the ground dead” after being hit by a van.
At 4.48pm, a number of Gardaí, as well as members of the Armed Support Unit and the Roads Policing Unit arrived on the scene where Jamie Dinnegan was lying on the ground, wearing just a vest and boxers, with other people “roaring and shouting” in the area.

Mr Dinnegan had bruising to his face and scrapes on his leg and Gardaí were informed that he was driven at by a white van that hit him. He was taken to Mullingar Hospital in an ambulance and informed Detective Garda Chris Murray in the back of the ambulance that he’d been hit by Michael Jnr Ward.
At 5:05pm, the court heard, a white Transit van was recovered at Oaklands, Longford, by Detective Gardaí Shane O’Connor and Clive Glancy.
“That’s approximately two kilometres from the scene by road, or just 300 metres away from the scene,” said Det Sgt Brennan.
Michael Jnr Ward had reported the van as stolen and alleged that it had been taken from outside his house after he’d left the keys in it.

Two pieces of video footage were played for the court. In one video, a shot was heard, but Det Sgt Brennan told the court “we believe three shots were fired”.
Another video showed a van cutting across the green from the side where the Keenan family resides, towards where the Stokes family lives, the court heard.

“Michael Ward is driving the van and Jamie Dinnegan is about to be struck. Noel Ward is in blue making good his escape away from the van,” Det Sgt Brennan narrated, as the footage was played for the court.
“Jamie Dinnegan is thrown into the air and Noel Ward in the blue, at the end of the video runs over to pick something up and the van makes good it's escape down Ardnacassa Avenue.”
There’s a “complex” background to the feuding between the families, Det Sgt Brennan explained.
“There was an altercation on New Year’s Eve, where a member of the Keenan family refused to step into a photograph where there was a member of the Stokes family.
“That was taken as an insult, that the Keenans thought they were above the Stokes’. There were tit-for-tat incidents in the lead-up to this incident,” he said.

He informed the court that the families are all intermarried and that there were “suggestions of fist fights to settle the score” but “I don’t believe that, to this day, it has been settled”.
There have been no incidents since, he added, though he noted a recent assault on one of the Keenans was “on the periphery” of this feud, but “tensions would still be between the families”.
Mr Dinnegan, the court heard, has 13 previous convictions to his name. Michael Ward has a total of 58 previous convictions, while Noel Ward has no previous convictions other than one for driving past a red light.

In mitigation, Brendan Grehan SC, for Jamie Dinnegan, accepted that the incident occurred out of “the most trivial matter possible”, but urged the court to consider the early plea of guilt.
Similarly, Vincent Heneghan SC, for Michal Ward, said his client had been involved in “a reckless act” but asked the judge to account for the early guilty plea.
John Shortt SC, for Noel Ward, said the incident was “almost Shakespearean, but whether this is a tragedy or a farce, it’s hard to say”.
In a letter to the court, Noel Ward said he had never wanted to get involved in any feuding and that he was ashamed at becoming “a product” of the environment he had “always fought to resist”.
Judge Connolly, with regard to Michael Jnr Ward, agreed to order a probation report, which is to be furnished to the court on November 5, 2024. However, he proceeded to impose a four year disqualification from driving, which will come into effect on July 17.

Referring to Mr Shortt’s Shakespearean reference, Judge Connolly said the only parallels he could draw were the feuds between the Montagues and Capulets that went on for decades in Romeo and Juliet.
“That won’t be tolerated in this day and age and if they (the Keenan and Stokes families) think they’re modern-day Shakespearean characters, there is only one way they’re going and that’s to prison,” he said.

“It is utterly ridiculous for grown adults to be behaving that way and to place themselves in jeopardy of going to jail over some perceived family slight.”

Turning to sentence, he proceeded to impose two years and two months on Jamie Dinnegan, suspending the final eight months for two years and giving him credit for 84 days served in custody.
However, the eight months suspended was on the condition that he have no association whatsoever with firearms for two years.

Noel Ward, he said, was “somewhat less culpable” than Mr Dinnegan but his charges were “nonetheless very, very serious” as is the “entire notion of feuding and affray” which creates a “very distressing atmosphere” and causes fear in the people living in the estate.

Judge Connolly proceeded to sentence Mr Ward to 19 months in prison, with the final five months suspended for 18 months on the same conditions as those imposed on Mr Dinnegan.